So the other day, my cousin, Big Reg and I were together, doin what WE do, trees and champagne(Miller High Life, The Champagne of Beers), when the discussion turned to WHO’S THE GREATEST MC OF ALL TIMES. The emcee who was our topic was Nasir Nasty Escobar Illmatic God’s Son Jones. Before you Jay Z stans get your VERSACE boxers in a bunch, hear the evidence that supports the argument.
WORDPLAY: The bol got A WHOLE LOT. I mean, whatever beat, whatever feature, whatever snippet, fuckin WHATEVER, he got what you need. Metaphors, similes, wittiness, thought provokers, medicininal dispensary rap.
CONTENT:He GOES IN! When I say “goes in”, I mean on everything. God forbid he’s the featured artist; sometimes makes you wonder if him and the other emcee were even listening to the same track! Nicca gets ridiculously DEEP on even the most “frivolous” of topics and beats.
CONSISTENCY: Now here’s an area where I’m sure I’ll hear some rumblings. No, he’s not Jay Z or Eminem, or even Nelly for that matter, when it comes to PLATINUM status worldwide, but, you can’t front that, more often than not, he delivers CLASSIC MATERIAL. I’ll admit, the ONLY NaS album/cd that I DON’T OWN is #NASTRADAMUS. That is partially due to the fact that when it was released, I was married and was on some MAKIN LOVE MUSIC-type ish. Truthfully, that jawn with GINUWINE didn’t sit well with me. Hey, even LEGENDS have missteps. STILL….there are some jewels on there. Years later, I’ve given it a re-listen, and it actually wasn’t THAT bad.
CONCEPTS: Okay, this is where CUZZO trumped the convo. On some JayElect ish, I enter as EXHIBIT A, the song REWIND. I mean, COT DAMN!!!! Holy Quentin Tarrentino, BATMAN!!! Reverse chronology rap! I won’t get into the details, as I would PREFER you do your research, track it down, and give it a listen. Makes you ask: What does this dude smoke and can I get some???? It’s like a DAY IN THE LIFE OF A DON. #nuffsaid
PRESENCE: By presence, I mean, since before ILLMATIC and his scene-stealing verse on LIVE AT THE BARBECUE, he’s been a #forcetobereckonedwith. Many wrote the man off after JAY Z released the #takeover, but, truthfully, he riled the god up! ETHER, to this day, still makes Shawn Cory Carter stop and take a look in the mirror and his life. Jay Z dissed with some low blows and subliminals but NaS went for that nicca’s throat. When you hear that “fuck Jay Z” intro, you know somebody’s head is bout to roll. Who won that battle? You gotta say NaS. Hell, Jay fell back and released THE BLACK ALBUM after that, his most introspective album to date and wound up doing a couple of songs with God’s Son like BLACK REPUBLICANS. For me, it was #OBVIOUS back when I peeped the song with the two of them as featured artists on LORD TARIQ’s song ANALYZE THIS. Do yourself a favor and find this song. Find this song and listen to it, I mean REALLY listen to it. The PROOF is in the pudding. It’s like they’re not even in the same weight class.
I’m gonna conclude my case here. Sure, I could go on and on and on but that would be like beating a dead horse. UNNECESSARY. I know there’s some HOV enthusiasts that’ll dispute me. You can. You have that right, but this ain’t YOUR blog, G. If you feel strong enough about it, holla at me, I’m REASONABLE, pun intended, but, trust and believe, you better come with more than record sales and how much money he has. That ain’t gone cut it! Many have come and gone. Many have claimed to be the GOAT. Sooner or later we’ll all see who the prophet is. NaS is Like……